I put off reading this for a little bit because I had requested it knowing I loved the writers first book, but also not as excited about the premise of the second. I was so wrong! it only took me one chapter to be pulled into this story and although it is one of those novels, where kind of nothing really happens, it’s just a very deep character study of Agatha, Millie, Tyler, and Kennedy. it was a really interesting study of the financial differences between college students, and what it’s like to look at that very particular time in life from the outside in from the perspective of a grown woman, I really liked Agatha a lot. How could you not like Millie? Even Kennedy - I felt so endeared by her, I’ve been her at certain ages in my life before. I just really wanted the best for all of them!

Much like Kiley Reid’s first book, Such a Fun Age, Come & Get It explores complex relationships, power dynamics, and the intersectionality of race, class, and sexuality. However, this book didn’t come together in the same way as her first. While the dialogue remains sharp, the plot was too slow moving for me. I remain a fan of Reid’s and look forward to reading what she publishes next.

February 10, 2024
I had high hopes for this novel, and it was of particular interest to me having previously been both and RA and RD. While the dormitory and student life anecdotes brought back memories, that’s where my interest in this story ended.

There is just no plot. I kept reading, waiting for some threads to pull together, or for something to happen but there was just one vignette after another, with no discernible, cohesive story.

Perhaps this was a case of right book, wrong reader.

The story really never came together for me. This was a highly character driven novel and I kept waiting for the backstories to weave together and come to a climax but not much happened till the end and then it was like… who cares? Agnes is a writer and visiting professor at the University of Arkansas. She becomes entangled with an RA at the college who she is paying to let her eavesdrop on the students who live there as research. We learn the backstories of Millie the RA and the girls who live in the suite next to her but the problem is they’re not that interesting. I don’t understand Peyton’s character at all and Kennedy is the only one whose backstory is remotely interesting.. This just didn’t work for me and I found it disappointing.

In "Come and Get It", Kylie Reid offers an interesting commentary on college life and finances through telling the intertwined stories of three main characters: Agatha, a 38-year-old visiting college professor and novelist; Millie, 24-year-old senior residence assistant (RA), and Kennedy, a junior transfer student in Millie's section. The stories also feature four other residents- Kennedy's roommates Tyler and Peyton, as well as Tyler's two friends Jenna and Casey. Agatha starts the novel by interviewing Tyler, Jenna and Casey about weddings but quickly pivots to focusing on their relationship with money. Wanting to continue, she pays Millie to allow her into the dorm to listen in on their conversations. Reid explores themes of race, class and age through the various intersections and interactions of these characters.

While the novel effectively talks about how consumerism and money affect each character in different ways, the book wasn't that interesting to get through. For me, I disliked almost every single character, which probably part of the point that Reid was trying to make on how each consumerism makes everyone a worse person. While perhaps an astute observation on life, it didn't make me want to continue reading at any given point to find out what happens to any of the characters, nor was I cheering for the success of any of the characters as I went through it. In spite of such unlikable characters, the plot was interesting enough to keep me going forward, in that the actions of the characters get more and more bizarre and it's almost like watching a train wreck of people you don't really like or care about. Overall, I think it's a slow read. It explores some pretty important themes that are interesting comments on society.

I want to thank NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for giving me this ARC for review.

This was a strange, shallow story that I didn’t connect with. The writing style and sub plots made the book feel a bit disconnected and almost like a collection of short stories. With so much potential, this one fell flat for me. Thank you to Penguin and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I have to be honest, I really don’t think I liked this book. It was a very strange story that I constantly couldn’t tell where things were headed. The characters were all very odd, with very strange internal monologues, and I felt the motivations behind their actions, while sometimes relatable, were also very shallow, self motivated, miscommunicative, and insecure.

I actually can’t even tell if I understand what this book was trying to convey.. but I’m also not entirely sure if that is MY fault or the author’s fault.

There were commentaries on wealth, sexuality, and race, sure.. but tbh that’s not what I felt the core of this book really was.

Kennedy’s entire storyline made me unbearably sad, and I felt that the resolution she was given was kind bizarre and dehumanizing. Millie’s story was incredibly stressful with the way her vulnerabilities and insecurities cycloned her into so many troubles and missteps that weren’t fair to her. I felt like she was misinterpreted by everyone around her and her story and individual feelings were just left in an odd place. And Agatha was just like… a walking train wreck floating through space that I don’t know what I was supposed to have thought about her? Or felt about her story and where it landed.

It definitely evoked a ton of thoughts from me, and I feel like the storytelling kept me invested. But I have no idea what to think of this book and what I was expected to get out of it— so I can only tell you what I did get out of it. And that is that these were not very likable characters, but I also felt really bad for all of them in strange ways.. it was an interesting commentary on college and dorm life that, as someone who had a horrible time adjusting to college and failed at dorm life, hit really close to home— so I got caught in the feels of the dysfunction of college life, and it left me feeling sad and empty.

I think I’m giving this 3 stars, but I really need time to reflect on this one and figure out if I missed the point of the book 🥴

Come And Get It, the sophomore novel by Kiley Reid was highly anticipated by many after her well-received debut, Such A Fun Age.

Come And Get It, is a peek into college life. Set at The University of Arkansas, Reid effectively paints a colorful setting that immediately immerses the reader into dorm life. Her descriptions of the sights, sounds, and even odors of the college dorm brought me back to my college days, as well as numerous move-ins and parents’ weekend outings with my own college-aged children.

Reid gives us the alternating POVs of Millie, a dorm RA; Kennedy, a transfer student with a complicated past; and Agatha, a visiting English professor. It is through the voices of these three women that we observe a story with a myriad of college-aged experiences that span many university hot topics including, race, sexual orientation, mental health, professor/student power dynamics, journalism ethics, food allergies, and financial insecurities.

The premise of Come And Get It was compelling, but the writing style and structure took me out of the story initially. Additionally, the different plots almost made this book feel like a collection of short stories. As Come And Get It began to reach its climax it became clear how all of the different characters and plots were related, but in the end the storylines began to devolve. I felt each of the plots were only partially finished by the end of the story, which was dissatisfying. At the same time, I was relieved the book was finally done, as it left me feeling cringey and uncomfortable, which may have been the author’s intention.

Unfortunately, this book fell short for me. Perhaps I was not the targeted reader for this story.

Give Come And Get It a try if you enjoy campus novels, coming-of-age dramas, and stories with contemporary settings and themes.

2.75 Stars rounded up to 3 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the eARC of Come And Get It by Kiley Reid.

This was a really engaging read. The novel itself is character driven, following a group of women at the University of Arkansas. It was really interesting to see how each of their stories intertwined and how actions each character took had a ripple effect on others. Reid has a way of writing realistically about situations, especially when identity factors like age, SES, race/ethnicity, etc. are highly considered. The book has a humorous tone while also simultaneously being serious and somewhat sad. I found myself pausing often to think about what was being conveyed through the character's interactions.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 @𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, @𝘗𝘙𝘏𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰 #𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥.) I don’t often read a book and go away feeling like I didn’t get it, but that was exactly my sense with 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗜𝗧 by Kiley Reid. It’s not that the story was too complex or over my head. In fact, the characters were easy to picture in their dorm lives at the University of Arkansas where Millie Cousins was an ambitious R.A. Several residents were featured in the story and I’d say they were all a little one-dimensional, while Millie was more fleshed out. Her journey through college had followed a curvy path, but she was driven, and oddly determined to buy her own home. Millie also happened to be Black, overseeing a mostly white dorm. That’s certainly not an oddity, nor was her race portrayed as such. It just added another layer. Thrown into the mix was a visiting professor with questionable ethics.⁣⁣
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Things got messy, feelings were hurt, mistakes were made…. That’s about it. I Reid had a lot to say about class and money and this she did well, though even that got a little jumbled. I also know Reid was touching on issues of race and sexuality, but I couldn’t really define those for you. In part the publisher’s description calls this book “a tension-filled story about money, indiscretion, and bad behavior.” I would say all of that was apt, except for the tension. For me that’s exactly what this story lacked. ⁣⁣
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All of this is not to say that I disliked my time with Reid’s sophomore novel. I listened to it in only a couple of days and never even considered stopping. I just kept expecting something more. And, yes, there was a little more toward the end, but it’s not a book I’ll remember for long. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved the author’s first book, Such a Fine Age. It was social satire at its best.

This has everything I should have loved in a character driven novel. To be fair, it’s difficult to make a book featuring a group of college girls and their banal conversations interesting. Fortunately, the excellent writing and the audiobook narrator kept me awake.

This was supposed to be (I think?) about money: who has it and who doesn’t and how this affects their attitudes. Race, power imbalance, sexuality and journalistic ethics come into play. So much potential. The plot meanders along, tensions build slowly, (too slowly) and the climactic scene fell completely flat. Was the pizza cutter scene supposed to be absurd and funny? I don’t think so but I found it eye-rolling.

I love Reid’s writing but I just couldn’t muster enough interest to care about what happened to any of these characters.

* I received a review copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own

Loved this novel of college life in Fayetteville, Arkansas that is a commentary on race, sexuality, university life, materialism, journalism and more. Somehow Kiley Reid touches on all of those topics but does so with a light hand, drawing the reader into the dorm, the lives of students, and a professor and an RA. It took me back to dorm life. I felt like I knew the characters and cared about what they were thinking and what happened to them. I also really enjoyed Reid’s first novel, Such a Fun Age, and am eager to read whatever she writes next. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced readers’ copy.

I don't think this book packs quite as much of a punch as Reid's debut, Such a Fun Age, but Come and Get It was really enjoyable. The dialogue is sharp and funny, there is so much cultural commentary and criticism happening throughout, it's just a really interesting book that is saying something cloaked in a mask of super easy, enjoyable reading. I really had fun with this.

Millie Cousins is an RA at the University of Arkansas in 2017. Agatha Paul is a visiting professor who wrote a book about grief and seeks to interview undergrads for an upcoming book. Kennedy, Tyler and Peyton and suitemates on Millie’s hall, Kennedy is having a tough time adjusting, Peyton is the only Black student on the hall and Tyler is a bit of a troublemaker. Tyler and her two friends, Jenna and Casey, go to one of Agatha’s interview sessions.

All of these lives (and others) collide in this smart, witty slice of campus life. I absolutely loved this book. There was just so much here: sex, race, class, gender, all set on campus, a setting which always appeals to me. Highly recommended.

Come and Get It was a little bit slow to engage me. I thoroughly enjoyed Kiley Reid’s debut novel, Such A Fun Age. I recommend reading her first novel, but I will be looking forward to her next book.

Come and Get It features fascinating character sketches, authentic relationships, dorm room drama, difficult truths and complicated consequences. Kiley Reid generates a real-world college campus setting, where we meet visiting professor Agatha Paul as she conducts a series of interviews with young people in hopes of generating ideas worth writing about. Privilege, income inequality, entitlement, and a variety of other themes are first introduced in this clever approach as the writer tries to narrow down the scope of her project. Come and Get It manages to capture and comment on each of these issues as well as venturing into even more complicated areas of consent, prejudice, and jealousy.

The lives and circumstances of the primary characters, MIllie Cousins and Agatha Paul, are intriguing and worth reading. One of the more notable aspects of this book are the immersive characterizations of the supporting cast. We learn something unique, noteworthy, or troubling about each of the young women who cohabitate in this university dorm. Kiley Reid uses character description, dialogue, and carefully calculated drama to create a story that keeps readers interested and invested. Readers will be inspired by Millie, enamored with Agatha, perplexed by Taylor, intrigued by Jenna and Kacey and the other young women in this novel.

After loving Kiley Reid's debut, Such A Fun Age, this unfortunately fell flat for me. I loved the themes in this book but felt like they weren't used to their full potential and, while I often love a plotless character-driven novel, I was left wondering when the book was really going to get going with some plot and purpose. A lot of the characters, especially the group of students, felt indistinguishable to me. Having said that, I love the topics Reid chooses to explore and I'll eagerly follow whatever she writes next.

This was just an OK read for me. It was very character driven, which typically isn't my favorite. There was very little plot until the last 20% of the book, which made it seem very slow moving. While I didn't particularly like any of the characters, they were very realistic and well written. The audiobook narration was well done, though.

Kiley Reid is a genius. Her astute perspective and social commentary never misses, and that remains true for both of her books. However, whereas I found her debut to be a win across the board, my enjoyment of this one was a little more nuanced. This character-driven novel took me on a journey, but I truly struggled with a lack of engagement with and connection to the characters. I’ll still read whatever she writes, but this one was a bit more middling for me.

I got about 1/3 of the way in on this book but the storyline just did not click for me. I couldn't identify with the characters and was not interested in them. Rarely for me, but I chose to DNF this book.